According to an article in ThePappasPost, Greeks invented the cheesecake. No it's not a line from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” it's probably true, although, what cheesecake meant to the ancients is probably not exactly the same as what you get ordering one at a fancy pastry shop.
According to the article, the first “cheese cake” was created on the Greek island of Samos, around 4,000 years ago, an assertion that is backed by archaeological finds, including carbon-dated cheese molds that contain a great deal of evidence of what the molds were used for.
Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake. It also became a custom for a Greek bride to bake and serve cheesecakes to her new husband’s friends as a gesture of hospitality. This according to the author is how the concept of wedding cakes originated.
Food historians believe this delicious desert was served to athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 BC, as a form of energy to get them through their races and competitions.
The simple ingredients of flour, wheat, honey and cheese were formed into a cake and baked – a far cry from the more complicated recipes available today.
It seems the writer Athenaeus wrote the first Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D. (By this time, the Greeks had been serving cheesecake for over 2,000 years but this is the oldest known surviving Greek recipe), while Greek physician Aegimus, wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes (πλακουντοποιικόν σύγγραμμα—plakountopoiikon suggramma)
The recipe was pretty basic: pound the cheese until it is smooth and pasty, mix the pounded cheese in a brass pan with honey and spring wheat flour, heat the cheese cake “in one mass”, allow to cool then serve.
Then along came the Romans, who after subjugating the Greek and carrying off whatever could be moved, decided that they would take the cheesecake recipe as well. They modified it including crushed cheese and eggs. These ingredients were baked under a hot brick and it was served warm. Occasionally, the Romans would put the cheese filling in a pastry. The Romans called their cheese cake “libuma” and they served it on special occasions.
From the Romans, the cheesecake expanded north and westwards, changing as it was adopted by different cultures, to eventually become what we know today.
According to Alan Davidson, author of the Oxford Companion to Food, Marcus Cato, a Roman politician in the first century B.C., is credited as recording the oldest known Roman cheesecake recipe— several centuries after the Greek recipe first appeared.
ThePappasPost also includes the ancient recipe according to Archestratus
Ancient Athenian Cheese Cake
Archestratus wrote “Forget all other dessert, there is only one: the Athenian cheese cake with Attica honey from Hymettus.” From Archestratus Fragments from the Life of Luxury
Filling:
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup honey or sugar
1 lemon, juice and rind
1/2 cup flour
1 lb. pot cheese (similar to cottage cheese)
1 cup sour cream or yogurt
Crust:
1 cup crumbs from zwiback rusks
1/4 cup ground walnuts or almonds
2 tablespoons oil or butter
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff (with a sprinkle of salt). In a blender blend yolks, honey, lemon juice, rind, flour and cheese for a few seconds. Fold batter into egg whites using spatula. Fold in sour cream. In a separate bowl mix crumbs and nuts together. Grease the bottom and sides of a large cake pan or spring-form cake pan. Spread crumbs over bottom and sides. Pour mixture in cake pan and bake at 350(f)° for 45 minutes. Chill in cake pan 6 hours before cutting and serving.
source: The Pappas Post
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